Nestling in the Victorian terraced streets between Muller Road and Gloucester Road, the Foresters Arms has been at the heart of the community in Ashley Down for much more than a century.
But the last few years have been a troubled time for the community pub, on the corner of Bromley Road and the main Ashley Down Road. In 2017, the pub closed and since 2019, there has been a succession of pub companies and landlords, attempts at re-launches and what proved to be false dawns.
But now, finally, the pub in the heart of Bristol Rovers country has a bright future, thanks to an initially reluctant new landlady in charge.
Tanya Long admitted she had to be persuaded to take on the Foresters, and only agreed on the basis it would be on a three-month trial period. She is well known in the pub trade in Bristol – mainly south of the river – after spells running the social club at the Filwood Community Centre, and as the assistant manager of both the White Hart in Bedminster and the Rising Sun right next to Ashton Gate.
Now, after learning the craft from Paula Dullaghan at the White Hart, she’s swapped the red half of the city for the blue half, and taken on a pub of her own for the very first time. Tanya said she was determined to reinstate the pub at the heart of the community.
“I think it was about getting the pub back to the kind of standards people expect of their local pub,” she said. “We got the pub cleaned and spruced up, and it was about asking the regulars and the local people what they wanted from their local pub.”
One of the things was reinstating the Foresters Arms as a proper Rovers pub, allowing the fans for whom a pint or three in the Foresters has long been an integral part of their matchday experience, to reclaim the space as their own.
“It’s just been so nice. People said they wanted it to feel more of a Rovers pub again, so people brought in loads of stuff to put on the walls, signed photos and things. They love it, because it’s their space. People say it feels like it’s back to the pub they knew a few years ago,” added Tanya.
And the word that the Foresters was ‘back’ has certainly spread – both around the Rovers fanbase and around the local community in Ashley Down and Horfield. Business has tripled since Tanya took over on the last weekend of August, and she’s already won awards within the pub company for the incredible turnaround.
“It’s a Rovers pub, but it’s not a football pub as such – the football is only every week or every other week,” said Tanya. “Some of the customers have been coming here 40 years, and it’s lovely to hear them say they appreciate how it’s changed.”
Coming from the nearest pub to Bristol City’s ground to one of the closest to Rovers’ Memorial Stadium – those historic gates are less than a ten minute walk away – Tanya has had a bit of banter from the fans, but she claims no allegiance.
“If I’m honest, I find it a lot more community-based, the Rovers fans. It’s nice,” she said. She’s fallen in love with the place – a pub whose turnaround challenge she initially didn’t want to take on – and even before the three month trial period is over, she’s agreed to become the permanent landlady, much to the customers’ joy.
Now, things are getting set for Christmas, and a huge festive lights display is already up, and being added to all the time. The display is raising money for the Motor Neurone Disease charity.